RETREAT: Commissioners to decide fate of human rights council

Tonight, as the citizen-run Kitsap Human Rights Network forms during its inaugural meeting, the future of the county's 8-year-old human rights organization is in doubt.

The Network was created after four members of the Kitsap County Council for Human Rights resigned in September saying they were "saddened to report that the Kitsap County Council for Human Rights has failed to carry out its mission."

The council has been in turmoil for two years including a short-term boycott by members Mick Sheldon and Jim Craswell. The two believed some fellow council members tolerated an environment that was hostile to their Christian beliefs.

Kitsap County Commissioner Charlotte Garrido said the commissioners will make a decision about the future of the council after a weekend retreat with council members at the end of January. Garrido said one of the possibilities, however, is disbanding the council.

"If we're going to have the council it needs to have value, and there's been some real unhealthy things going on in the last few months," Garrido said.

Kitsap County commissioners threatened to disband the group in 1994 after the council supported a gay rights parade in Seattle.

Then-Commissioner Win Granlund said the council had strayed from its purpose of protecting a person or group from malicious harassment and discrimination. Council members responded by stating they were formed in part to bring about needed change. Granlund countered that an advocacy group would work better as a nonprofit.

Today's conflicts haven't fallen far from these earlier problems.

In 1995, then-Commissioner Matt Ryan appointed three men, including Sheldon and Craswell. Council members Val Torrens and council Chair Marion Forsman-Boushie -- both supporters of the gay rights parade and the independence of the council -- were not reappointed.

The council was formed in 1989 following a 1988 cross-burning in North Kitsap at the home of a racially mixed family. In 1997, the county spent $42,102 on the council.

Ryan said the council, along with the community, was effective in driving skinheads and overtly racist people out of North Kitsap in the early 1990s.

"If the human rights council functions as it should, as a sounding board within the community to address divisive issues and also give feedback to the commissioners, there is a place for it," Ryan said. "If it was to revert to like it was when I came into office as a subsidized branch of the Democratic Party that pushed personal agendas, then it's served its purpose."

Robin Carson was one of the four members of the council who resigned to form the new, non-government Kitsap Human Rights Network. Carson said the council has made a positive impact in Kitsap County, bringing in programs such as the Youth Rally and the Human Rights Annual Conference.

"At one time the council was a sounding board for the community," Carson said. "But that part is totally eroded, and that to me was one of the most important aspects of the council. ... When Mick Sheldon and Jim Craswell went public against the council the first time, that whole boycott issue, publicly that didn't sit well. The trust was eroded between the public and the council."

Carson also said the council, if it evolves into a purely advisory board and does not advocate for change, loses a measure of power.

Carson said the network won't hesitate to take positions on political matters.

"I think we're going to be really pro-active, and I think we will help educate the community as to what is going on in Kitsap County and the surrounding communities," Carson said. "I don't want us to back off of issues because they're politically difficult."

For Craswell, the four resignations came as a relief. Craswell said the council was never intended to advocate political positions.

"They can define what their niche is and then go after it," Craswell said. "That's a far different cry from being a government agency."

New group to meet

What: Kitsap Human Rights Network meeting

When: Reception from 5 to 6 tonight, with meeting following.

Where: East Bremerton Library on Sylvan Way

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